FARGO (KFGO KVRR) – Two people have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state law that led to the creation of legislative sub-districts for two North Dakota Indian reservations.
Charles Walen and Paul Henderson are challenging the addition of two sub-districts in legislative Districts 4 and 9 on the Fort Berthold and Turtle Mountain Reservations.
The complaint says that the creation of the sub-districts “was racial gerrymandering for which race was the predominant factor” and says the sub-districts violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
The lawsuit claims that state lawmakers created the sub-districts “solely on the basis of race and for the purported purpose of complying with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to permanently prohibit the state from holding any future legislative elections based on the new sub-districts. Gov. Doug Burgum signed the re-districting bill into law in November.
Burgum and Secretary of State Al Jaeger are listed as co-defendants.
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